The legislation on animal nutrition is becoming more and more restrictive, and the trend is to replace chemical substances for natural products.

Objective

In a study performed in Romania in 2007, the efficacy of intestinal optimizer pronutrients and chemical coccidiostats was compared.

Methodology

The test was conducted in Cobb broilers from 0 to 42 days. Each farm received a different a treatment. There were 2 replicates per treatment (two buildings).

Treatments

• FARM A – intestinal optimizer pronutrients at 0.250 kg/t – 38670 animals
• FARM B –Coccidiostats dual program (diclazuril 0.200 kg/t, from 0 to 20 days – lasalocid 0.600 kg/t, from 21 to 35 days – withdrawal period, from 35 to 42 days) – 33900 animals
• FARM C – intestinal optimizer pronutrients at 0.500 kg/t – 33100 animals

Presence of coccidia

• FARM A: Coccidia appeared on day 19 in building 1 and day 25 in building 2.  Animals were treated with sodium sulfaquinoxaline.

• FARM B: Coccidia appeared on day 24 in building 3 and on day 25 in building 4. Animals were treated with sodium sulfaquinoxaline.
• FARM C: No coccidia appeared.

Weight

Mortality

Conclusions

The best results were obtained in farm C, were intestinal optimizer pronutrients were used at 0.5 kg/t, as they could prevent the coccidiosis outbreaks, so that animals did not need to be treated and they achieved greater weights and lower mortality rates.

This pronutrients are effective as optimizers of the intestinal mucosa and capable to obtain better results than chemical coccidiostats, as long as they are used at the recommended dose (0.5 kg/t).

Intestinal optimizer pronutrients are marketed under the commercial name Alquernat Zycox, by Biovet, S.A.

Photo: Joel Mills – CC BY-SA 3.0